Gary Bettman

ARTICLES ABOUT GARY BETTMAN BY DATE - PAGE 5

Talks between the NHL and its Players' Association resume Friday, the first meeting since commissioner Gary Bettman made the lockout official nearly two weeks ago. But the two sides aren't planning to stop with a one-day catch-up session. Meetings are scheduled to take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Manhattan and the N.Y. Daily News reported the crux of the conversation will be on "non-core economic issues. " In other words, the central focus of the lockout -- splitting of revenue exceeding $3 billion -- is being pushed to the backburner until the two sides can come to agreement on secondary points.

NEW YORK -- The clock is ticking on the NHL and the players' association to reach a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement and avoid a work stoppage. Not long after the conclusion of a union meeting Thursday in New York during which NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr updated around 300 players on the status of negotiations, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman met with the Board of Governors. Bettman said the owners--including Chicago Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz--showed unanimous support of a lockout of the players if a new CBA is not in place by the time the current one expires Saturday.

The Sports Xchange Press Box: NHL negotiations to resume Tuesday NHL owners and players are expected to meet in Toronto on Tuesday as the two sides continue to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement in which the players' union will make its proposal related to economic issues. USA Today reported that the appeals process for player discipline and the length of training camps were the main issues discussed in Friday's meeting in New York. That was a day after commissioner Gary Bettman said the players would be locked out if there is not a new CBA by Sept.

The Sports Xchange NHL talks to resume in Toronto next week The initial NHL proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement includes a reduction in the percentage of revenue the league would receive and rewrite contract structure for younger players. The players union has yet to counter but is expected to bring its own plan to the bargaining table next week when talks resume in Toronto. The recent gaudy contracts being floated by owners in free agency -- including a 14-year, $110 million offer sheet to Predators defenseman Shea Weber -- goes counter to commissioner Gary Bettman's call for owners to get 11 percent more of the hockey-related revenue take.

The Sports Xchange Press Box: NHL owners seek to reduce players' revenue percentage NHL The initial NHL proposal for a new collective bargaining agreement includes a reduction in the percentage of revenue the league would receive and rewrite contract structure for younger players. The players union has yet to counter but is expected to bring its own plan to the bargaining table next week when talks resume in Toronto. The recent gaudy contracts being floated by owners in free agency -- including a 14-year, $110 million offer sheet to Predators defenseman Shea Weber -- goes counter to commissioner Gary Bettman's call for owners to get 11 percent more of the hockey-related revenue take.

Raffi Torres' return to the NHL will be sooner than previously thought. After re-hearing the case against the Coyotes forward for Torres' illegal hit to the head of the Blackhawks' Marian Hossa during Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced Monday that he is suspending Torres 21 games. That is four fewer games than the 25-game suspension NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan handed Torres a few days after the April 17 incident that left Hossa with a severe concussion.

Until the NHL Players' Association sits across the table with the league and exchanges proposals, it won't know what kind of fight lies ahead during negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. If it comes to it, the union appears willing and able to drop the gloves after three days of executive board meetings that concluded Wednesday at a downtown Chicago hotel. The sides will meet beginning Friday in New York to attempt to reach a new CBA with the old one expiring Sept.

NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - Swede Nicklas Lidstrom became the first European to captain a Stanley Cup champion and as he retired from the NHL on Thursday a handful of compatriots hoping to get their hands on the same trophy paid him tribute. Players took a break from practise for Saturday's Game Two of the Stanley Cup final between the New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings to talk about Lidstrom, who is widely regarded as one of the best defenseman of all time. "Two decades is a long time playing in the best league in the world.

NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) - The threat of another bitter Labor dispute was left hanging over the start of the Stanley Cup finals when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced on Wednesday that negotiations on a new deal with the players should begin in the next few weeks. In his 'State of the League' address ahead of Game One of the finals between the New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings, Bettman downplayed the possibility of another lost season like the 2004-2005 campaign.